Sentence analysis
In English, we have the following sentence types.
1. Subject – Verb Example: He ran.
This also includes sentences with simple descriptive words added.
Example: He ran quickly. (quickly merely describes “how” he ran).
2. Subject – Verb – Complement Example: She is pretty. She is a doctor. Notice
how the words pretty and doctor describe the subject she.
3. Subject – Verb – Direct Object Example: He threw the ball. Notice the ball is
what was thrown. It is the “object” that receives the action of the verb.
4. Subject – Verb – Indirect Object – Direct Object Example: He threw him the
ball. Notice him receives the action of the verb “indirectly,” and thus is termed
the indirect object.
Ok, now what is all this stuff? Well, use the following guidelines to help you with sentence analysis.
1. First thing to do when you’re analyzing a sentence is to find the verbs (all of them).
2. Next, find the subject of each verb by asking the question “what” or “who” before the verb. For example, take the sentence John ran to the store. Find the verb ran. Then ask, “who ran?” The answer is John (it is also the subject of the verb ran).
3. Determine what type of verb you have. There are three main types of verbs: a transitive verb (or Action verb) takes an object (like a direct object – He threw the rock. ), an intransitive verb does not take an object (like He ran quickly), and an intransitive linking verb takes a complement (like she is pretty).
4. If the verb is transitive (i.e., an action), then it will take a direct object and maybe an indirect object.
To find a direct object, ask “what” or “whom” after the action verb. For example, He threw the ball. Threw is the verb. It is an action, so ask, threw “what”? The answer is the ball. Ball is the direct object.
To find an indirect object, ask “to whom” or “for whom” after the direct object. For example, He threw him the ball. Just as above threw is the verb. It is an action, so ask, threw “what”? The answer is the ball. Ball is the direct object. Then ask, threw the ball “to whom”? The answer is him. Him is the indirect object. Since you need to have a direct object to find an indirect object, you can’t have an indirect object without a direct object. Remember that.
5. If the verb is intransitive, an action without an object, leave it alone. No further analysis is needed. For example, He ran to the store. Ran is the verb. It is an action. Test if there’s an object by asking “what” after the action verb. He ran “what”? He didn’t run the store. That would be a different use of the verb run. Try “whom.” He ran “whom”? Again, no answer. That means ran is an intransitive verb.
6. Intransitive linking verbs are most commonly forms of the verb “be.” The most common forms – is, am, was, were, are. Sometimes sense verbs can be linking verbs also, but only if they are not action. For example, He smells bad. If you mean that he has trouble smelling things, that’s an action. Can’t you just hear him sniffing? But, if you mean that he should bathe more regularly, then you have a linking verb.
OK, now what to do with linking verbs. When you identify a verb as linking, ask “what” after the linking verb to yield the compliment. For example, He is happy. Is is the linking verb. Ask “what” is? Answer is happy. Happy is the compliment. Since happy is describing he, the subject, we call it a predicate adjective. Here’s another example. He is a doctor. Again is is the linking verb. Ask “what” is? Answer is doctor. Doctor is the compliment. Since doctor is renaming he, the subject, we call it a predicate nominative.
Do you want a tip before you start? Do you remember the descriptive word called a preposition? If not, consider the lists below.
Here are some of the most common prepositions.
about, above, across, after, against, among, around, as, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, besides, between, beyond, but (meaning “except”) by, down, during, except, for, from, in, into, near, of, off, on, over, past, since, through, till, to, toward, under, until, up, with, without
Sometimes prepositions consist of more than one word.
according to, ahead of, as for, as far as, away from, because of, by way of, due to, except for, instead of, out of, with respect to
When you join prepositions with nouns, they form a group of words called prepositional phrases, which are used to describe other words. For example, in the road, on the table, over the mountains, under the sofa, between the ears are called prepositional phrases. Don’t let them confuse you when you look for the main verb or subject. In fact, is a good idea is to scratch out the prepositional phrases in a sentence before you begin.
Here’s an example: In the evening after dinner, Fred throws the ball against the wall in his backyard.
Now, let’s get rid of the prepositional phrases before we analyze the sentence.
In
the evening after dinner, Fred throws the ball against the wall
in his backyard.
All that’s left is Fred throws the ball. Which we can easily analyze – throws is the action verb. “Who” throws gives us Fred as the subject. Since throws is an action verb, we know we’re looking for a direct object. Fred throws “what”? Answer – the ball, which is the direct object.
See how much easier that is. Remember to eliminate the prepositional phrases before beginning to analyze the sentence.
That’s a lot of information, but what good is it? These simple terms will be used in Part Two to begin to help you write better immediately.
Practice Exercises in analysis.